Feminist Horror Movies: Fact or Fiction?

Well, I've been giving a great deal of thought to my choices in entertainment lately.  The thing is, I like horrific fiction (film and literature).  I *really* like it.  It's been my favorite type of storytelling since I was in grade school.

I'm also a proud feminist.  These two facts don't necessarily coexist happily.

I was thinking about this recently when I only made it halfway through a detestable little romp called "Deadgirl".  Here's the plot: two teenagers are underage-drinking in an abandoned mental hospital (schizophrenia is scawy!) and find a naked lady-zombie in the basement.  She's tied to a gurney (natch) and unable to do much more than gnash her teeth, roll her eyes, and act, you know, zombie-like.  Did I mention she's naked?  There's even a merkin.  Seriously.

Anyway, the teenagers realize that they can do whatever they want to her.  In the portion of the movie I saw, the boys rape, beat, rape, choke, rape, and rape the woman on the table.  She's unable to speak AND comes back to life if they take it too far.  She's, like, the ultimate girlfriend.  I turned off the movie at the point where two of their friends perform a double penetration rape, end up getting a penis bitten off (orally raping a zombie?  when is that EVER a good idea?), then proceed to beat her while screaming, "YOU BITCH!" 

I know that it's less than ideal to write a review for a movie that I didn't sit all the way through.  Here are some reviews from Netflix users who saw the whole thing ...and liked it.

Its easy to tell which reviews were written by women, and which by men. For horror lovers, this is an instant classic. Great ideas, fully involved acting, characters you can actually care about, some truly shocking moments, and a few surprises in the clever writing. Gratuitous? Absolutely. But only in service to the story. Im gonna buy a copy of this.

It may be sick and perverse, but Deadgirl is one hell of a compelling film. You've read the synopsis: best buddies Rickie and J.T. discover a "deadgirl" in the secluded basement of an abandoned mental hospital. J.T. wants to get all necro on her, but Rickie doesn't want any part of that dead-humping nonsense. He bails on the situation only to find out later that J.T. has recruited other high-school males into his crazy deadgirl rape club. Although not for the squeamish, it should still be noted that Deadgirl is rarely, if ever, offensive. It's a serious movie with comedic undertones, but the comedy never seems cruel or out-of-line. Considering the subject matter, it's certainly a hard movie to defend. But despite its independent B-movie trappings, taboo subject matter, and bleak storyline, Deadgirl remains one of the most creative and original horror films that I've seen this year.

Ah!  The rapes were in service to the story.  Oh, and it's not offensive.  Case closed!  We can all go home!

I've had enough.  I'm so sick of torture porn (is anyone really excited about the umpteenth SAW that's opening this week?).  I'm so tired of seeing women raped in horror flicks.  And I'm done dismissing this as a personal problem on my part. I realize I'm not the traditional horror audience member, but must I suffer through "rape clubs" that somehow serve a story?  And, more to the point, do men find this palatable?  Must we experience vicarious rapes in order to stop ourselves from rampaging through discotheques?

Not only that, but is this type of storytelling scary to anyone?  It had shock value and certainly reveled in the grotesque, but it didn't make me shrink into my seat.  There was no suspense.  Just a sad excuse for playing out an immature rape fantasy.  So, was this just a failure of storytelling?  In another director's hands, would I have stayed?

I have no answers, but hopefully this blog will serve as a way to start asking questions.  I'm hoping to catch von Trier's new movie in the next week or two (I'm a glutton for punishment, eh?). 

'till then, please don't tie me up if I die.  I want the opportunity to stalk like a proper zombie.